Wall furnaces



ATTORNEYS D. G. AlTKEN WALL FURNACES 2 sheets-sheet 1' 0) 2 INVENTOR May 8, 1962 Filed sept. 12, 1958 D. G. AITKEN WALL FURNACES May 8, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed sept. 12. 1958 INVENTOR am 45 /rff/v Q5/% fr@ ATTORNEYS VBY United States Patent 3,033,096 Patented May 8, 1962 hee 3,033,096 WALL FURNACES Douglas G. Aitken, Painesville, Ohio, assiguor to Hupp Corporation, Cleveiand, Ohio, a corporation of Virginia Filed Sept. 12,1958, Ser. No. 760,617 3 Claims. (Cl. 98-33) ponents and providing free-flowing cool air inlet and Warm outlet passageways therethrough and which has a sufficiently attractive appearance to permit its installation in the interior wall of a dwelling. The compartment doors for wall furnaces used heretofore which offered any substantial degree of concealment for the furnace have not been satisfactory because they created enough baffling effect at the warm air outlet to prevent proper operation of the thermostat control. Further, they produced drafts which often resulted in discomfort and annoying cut-olf before the room was heated to a desired temperature, and generally reduced overall efficiency of the furnace. Furthermore, doors having inadequate warm air outlet passageways can create a lire hazard when the furnace is operated continuously over extended periods. It has been necessary in many cases to sacrifice a substantial degree of concealment to obtain adequate air passageways.

A primary object of this invention is therefore to provide a door for a wall furnace compartment capable of substantially concealing the furnace and the accessories essential to the operation thereof and provide substantially unobstructed cool air inlet and warm air outlet passageways for the furnace, the door providing ready access into said compartment.

Another object of this invention is to provide a door suitable for a wall furnace compartment, the door comprising a frame in which there is mounted an expanded metal grille having a multiplicity of inclined air passageways therethrough, the outer surface of said grille having a light reflecting surface for making objects disposed adjacent the opposite side of the door substantially invisible from the outer side thereof.

It is also an object to provide an improved door construction for a wall furnace which completely conceals the joints between the furnace housing and the wall when the door is closed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel wall furnace compartment door having inclined air passageways extending therethrough which, in cooperation with adjustable louvers in the warm air outlet from the furnace, direct the warm air in a desired pattern into the room being heated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawing, in which:

FIGURE l is a front elevation of the wall furnace and door of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE l and further illustrating details of the furnace compartment and adjustable louvers in the warm air outlet opening;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the Wall furnace and compartment, the door being removed `to show interior details;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary front elevation of the expanded metal grille used in the furnace door of this invention;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional View of the expanded metal grille Itaken along the line 6-6 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged sectional View taken along line 7-7 of FIGURE l showing details of the construction and mounting of the door.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the furnace door with which this invention is primarily concerned is indicated generally at 10. The door includes a channelled rectangular metal frame 12 in which there is mounted an expanded metal grille 14, of galvanized steel, aluminum, or the like having formed in the front surface thereof vertical parallel spaced grooves 16 which add stiffness and rigidity to the grille as well as provide a pleasing ornamental appearance. As shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6, the expanded metal grille 14 forms a multiplicity of downwardly inclined air passageways 18 therethrough which have a preferred size of about 7/16 inch in a horizontal direction and 1/8 inch in a vertical direction.

The method of making expanded metal is, of course, Well known. Parallel rows of slits are formed in a at metal sheet of suitable gauge with the slits .in each row alternately spaced in relation to the slits in adjacent rows so that each slit is substantially opposite the space between slits in adjacent rows. The sheet is then stretched in a direction at right angles to the slits therein whereby they are spread open a desired amount as shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6.

The rectangular frame 12, as best shown in FIGURES 3 and 7, defines an inwardly opening peripheral channel of substantially U-shaped cross section having spaced opposed front and back sides 20 and 22. A section 24 of front side 20 is turned inwardly to provide a pleasing picture-frame appearance and form an abutment for the front surface of expanded metal grille 14. The grille 14 is wedged tightly against the outer end of inwardly turned section 24 by an L-shaped angle member indicated generally at 26 having a leg 28 rigidly secured, as by spo-t welds or the like, to the bottom of the channel in frame 12 and a leg 30 abutting against the back surface of grille 14. For additional strength and rigidity, the grille 1-4 may be spot welded `at selected points to the channeled frame 12.

A transverse horizontal brace 32, illustrated in FIG- URE 2, is positioned at a selected point between the top and bottom of frame 12 behind grille 14. The grille 14 is further secured in the frame 12 by an ornamental clamping member 34, at the frontl of the grille, rigidly secured to brace 32 by rivets 36 or suitable nuts and bolts (not shown).

As best shown in FIGURE 4, the Wall furnace comprises an insulated metal compartment indicated generally at 38 and having an open side 40. A furnace combustion chamber 42 is disposed within the compartment 38 and, as indicated by the arrows 44, air is forced by electric blower 46 through an opening 48 in inclined partition wall 50. The incoming air is heated by the outer surface of combustion chamber 42 and then is discharged through the section of the grille 14 above partition wall 50 as indicated by the arrows 51. The heated air is deflected laterally in any desired direction by vertically extending spaced parallel louvers 52 pivotally mounted at their upper `and lower ends on the top casing wall and an outer fiattened edge of partition wall 50. By adjusting the angle of louvers 52, any desired air pattern may be established in the room being heated. For example, with the louvers 52 in a position indicated in FIGURE 4, a part of the warm air is directed to the right and a part to the left into the room being heated. Alternative patterns are for all of the air to be directed straight ahead, all to the left, or all to the right, etc. j

Referring again to FIGURES 3 and 7, the wall of the compartment 38 has an outwardly turned flat flanged portion 54 extending around the sides and top thereof on one side of which the door 10 is mounted by hinges 56. The door frame 12 fits substantially Hush against the flat flanged portion S4 and completely surrounds the open side 40 of the compartment 38 which fits as a unit in an aperture in a room wall 5S. The ange 54 has a lip 60 which abuts the surface of the opening in wall 53, and the fiat surface of ange 54 lies ush with the outer surface of wall 58, thereby positioning door frame 12 substantially flush against the outer surface of wall 58. A catch 61 is provided to releasably hold the door in closed position.

A metal heat insulating shield 62, which extends around the sides and top of the compartment and extends rearwardly a distance at least equal to the width of wall S3, is secured to the inside of lip 60 by spot welds or any other suitable means to prevent heat that may be dissipated through the compartment 38 from heating the wall 58 to a dangerous temperature.

The foregoing construction provides a simplified means for installing a wall furnace unit. The door in cooperation therewith permits substantially total concealment of all the furnace components disposed within the compartment 38. The ability of the grille 14 to conceal the components within compartment 38 is substantially increased by making the outer surface thereof light reflecting. This may be accomplished with a suitable paint or the sheet metal from which the grille is made may have a polished or bright surface.

When the door 10 is mounted on a wall furnace compartment of the type illustrated in FIGURE 4, it is preferred that transverse brace 32 be disposed opposite the top edge of partition 46. Thus the section of grille 14 below brace 32 and its cooperating clamp member 34 provides a multiplicity of free air inlet passageways and the section of the grille above brace 32 provides air outlet passageways to permit the substantially unobstructed ow into and out of the furnace, It is preferred that at least the passageways in the outlet section of the grille be inclined downwardly for more eflicient distribution of the warm air in the room being heated. Thus with the warm air being directed downwardly by the inclined passageways 13 and in a desired lateral direction by adjustment of vertical louvers 52, the warm air may be directed toward or away from any selected areas of the room or the air may be diffused throughout the room. The passageways 18 are large enough to permit free ow of warm air therethrough without any undue restriction, yet the furnace components behind the grille are completely concealed from view. The door assembly further provides ready access into the compartment 38 for heat control adjustment and servicing of the components there- The invention may be embodied in other specic forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A substantially flat thin door for concealing and providing an air inlet and an air outlet for a heat exchanger assembly disposed in a recess in a room wall, a

housing partially surrounding said heat exchanger, said housing having walls surrounding the recess opening, said housing walls terminating in ilat end portions substantially ush with said room wall, said door comprising a frame surrounding the room wall opening and fitting closely adjacent said room wall and extending over the joint between the walls of said housing and the adjacent portions of the room wall, said frame comprising a peripheral channel member having opposed sides providing front and rear surfaces, the front surface of the frame having at least a Section thereof turned inwardly toward said back side, a substantially flat expanded metal grill mounted on said frame and extending across the entire area enclosed by said frame and lying within the plane of said frame, said expanded metal being formed to provide a plurality of inclined relatively small air passageways therethrough, said expanded metal also affording a light reecting surface for making objects disposed adjacent the inner side of said door substantially invisible from the outer side thereof, means including the inturned section of said front side of said frame rigidly securing said grill in said channel, a brace extending horizontally across said frame between the top and bottom thereof behind the outer surface of said grill, means rigidly securing said grill to said brace, said brace dividing the grill into upper and lower sections, and hinges mounted on said at end portion of a side housing wall and on a portion of said frame at one side of said door supporting said door for swinging movement about a substantially vertical axis at one side of said door.

2. The door of claim l in which the means rigidly securing said grille in said channel also includes a substantially L-shaped angle member having a leg rigidly connected to said frame and a leg abutting against an inner surface of said grille.

3. In combination a furnace comprising a housing having top, rear and side walls received in a recess in a room wall, said housing walls terminating in flat end portions substantially ush with said room wall, a burner in the lower portion of said housing, a heat exchanger in the upper portion of said housing heated by said burner, a fan mounted in said housing for forcing air upwardly from the lower portion of said housing toward the upper portion of said housing, a substantially flat thin door for concealing and providing an air inlet and an air outlet for said furnace, said door comprising a frame surrounding the room wall opening and fitting closely adjacent said room wall and extending over the joint between the walls of said housing and the adjacent portions of the room wall, said frame comprising a peripheral channel member having opposed sides providing front and rear surfaces, the front surface of the frame having at least a section thereof turned inwardly toward said back Side, a substantially flat expanded metal grill mounted on said frame and extending across the entire area enclosed by said frame and lying within the plane of said frame, said expanded metal being formed to provide a plurality of inclined relatively small air passageways therethrough, means including the inturned section of said front side of said frame rigidly securing said grill in said channel, said expanded metal also affording a light reflecting surface for making objects disposed adjacent the inner side of said door substantially invisible from the outer side thereof, a brace extending horizontally across said frame between the top and bottom thereof behind the outer surface of said grill, means rigidly securing said grill to said brace, said brace dividing the grill into upper and lower sections, and hinges mounted on said dat end portion of a side housing wall and on a portion of said frame at one side of said door supporting said door for swinging movement about a substantially vertical axis at one side of said door.

(References on following page) 6 References Cited in the le of this patent 2,366,224 Warp Ian. 2, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,663,246 51111111 DGC- 22, 1953 1 996 927 Lake Apr 9 1935 2,758,534 Srnlth Aug. 14, 1956 2103 4:723 Fitch Man 24', 1936 2,846,997 Reeves et al Aug. 12, 1958 2,051,613 Macleod Aug. 18, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 2262124 Truax NOV' 11 "1941 520,940 Great Britain May 8, 1940 2,292,562 Huggins Aug. 11, 1942 

